Directing Fundamentals. Without a strong vision behind a story, a film will lose its focus. A film director needs to have an understanding of how each department contributes to the making of a film and how to best utilize the talents of all team members. The following 100 LEVEL blogs cover the role and responsibilities of a director in script development, pre-production, production, and post production. Read along to learn how to tell a story cinematically, use the camera as a tool, prepare a script analysis and engage in the casting and rehearsal process with actors.
Finishing production is a major milestone for your film.
A lot of energy and effort has gone into getting your project to this point. The cast and production crew may be finished, but you’re not!
You have miles to go. Buckle up!
Read MoreBringing a film to life – and making it good – relies heavily on the script and the director. But the director is not working alone. There are many creative partners who align with the director, and two are of critical importance in pre-production and principle photography – the director of photographer and the production designer.
Working alongside the director, these two creative keys are responsible for crafting the visual images.
Read MoreWe know that filmmaking is a collaborative art and that the cast and crew work together to support the best possible storytelling. However, the director is ultimately responsible for building a strong, cinematic story.
Developing your eye as a film director is an ongoing process of understanding, observation, and patience. Every day and every film is full of opportunities to learn.
Read More‘Thumbnail’ is the term for a simple storyboard frame. It’s a small, quick sketch that shouldn’t take longer than 10 or 15 seconds to create. Thumbnails are an important part of the director’s visual planning process.
Thumbnails illustrate the size of the shot and the character position in the frame. This helps the different departments understand the director's goal for the camera set-up.
Read More“Blocking’s up!” is the announcement you hear on set when the director, director of photography, and actors gather to walk through the dynamics of a scene and how it’s going to be shot. Blocking is essentially the choreography between the actor(s) and the camera.
There can be many moving parts to the blocking puzzle. Everyone who contributes to the shot needs to know what’s in the frame, what’s happening – and when it’s happening.
Read MoreAs a director you receive a script written in a screenplay format. This is the whole story with all of the scenes and characters. Your job is to turn that into a film.
In order to have a powerful and unique visual interpretation of the screenplay you need to know the story inside out; the characters, the dialogue, the subtext, the conflict, the story arc, the genre — and a thousand more details.
It can be exhausting. That’s why they’re gonna pay you the big bucks!
Read MorePowered by Pozervision
